Escapades of Friendship
by LilyTheNinjaGirl
Summary: Ladybug and Chat Noir have discovered that training new superheroes is not as easy as one might think. Plus, the king of drug smuggling operations is back in business, and this time with a new goal: to conquer the world. Can the Miraculous Team save themselves, their friendship, and the world? Sequel to Secrets and Betrayals. Read that first. Love Square, DJwifi, Chlathan
1. Bonne Nuit

**Escapades of Friendship**

 **Description:** Ladybug and Chat Noir have discovered that training new superheroes is not as easy as one might think. Plus, the king of drug smuggling operations is back in business, and this time with a new goal: to conquer the world. Can the Miraculous Team save themselves, their friendship, and the world? Sequel to Secrets and Betrayals. Read that first.

 **A/N: Hello, all my lovely readers! LilyTheNinjaGirl is back with a sequel for you! Sayuri and I are very excited to write this for you! I was planning on taking a much longer break or not writing a sequel, but the amount of reviews and PMs asking for a sequel inspired me to write one.**

 **However, do not expect updates to be very frequent. Once a week is what I'm aiming for right now. Is that okay with everyone? Good? Good!**

 **Now without further ado, I'll let you read the first chapter of Escapades of Friendship! This chapter is everything that happened in between Chapter 40 and The Epilogue of Secrets and Betrayals. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 1: Bonne Nuit**

The first night after Hawkmoth/Gabriel's defeat had been hard on everybody. The entire miraculous team went home with bruised and aching bones, stiff and in desperate need of sleep. Not to mention that Alya's mother sat her daughter down for a long lecture on superhero safety. The others had to lie to their parents and come up with excuses for being gone during the whole ordeal.

While Adrien was still unconscious, Tom and Sabine Dupain-Cheng had a chat with Emily Agreste. The three vaguely knew each other on professional terms, but it was still a little awkward. After tears shared by the women and even a big hug from Tom, it was decided that Adrien would stay with the Dupain-Chengs to help Adrien recover and give Emily time to adjust. Plus, Gabriel Agreste's death had to be made known. Not how he died or who he was, but that he died.

Adrien had taken the news surprisingly well after his mother had explained herself. It made Emily's heart ache to hear how uncertain he was. He thought she would run and leave him as soon as she could. After much reassurance that she loved him and she would never leave him again, she gave her son a big hug. Then she was gone.

She stayed in the area for one entire day, to help set up Gabriel's 'sudden and tragic death by a stroke'. She also made peace with a bit of her past. And she gave away her dear friend, Pavvo, to a young girl who wanted to help others. She hoped the girl enjoyed the power while she could. The enjoyment probably wouldn't last...

After Emily left, Adrien fell asleep on the couch again. That's how it was for the next several days. He drifted in and out of sleep. Marinette propped his head up and wrapped him in a blanket, kissing his forehead lovingly before going to face her parents. She wanted an explanation for a few things Gabriel and Emily had mentioned. They did not disappoint.

Nino, after reassuring his mother he was okay and hanging out with his family for a few hours, managed to sneak out of the house under the pretense of 'finishing the grocery shopping he was supposed to have done before the crazy zombie thing'. Instead, he transformed and headed off to the Agreste mansion. He slipped through Adrien's bedroom window and surveyed his friend's room. He found a duffel bag in the closet and started tossing stuff into it: Adrien's blue scarf, a few changes of clothes, a black hoodie, Plagg's favorite blanket, Adrien's phone, and his toothbrush. Then he dropped the bag off at the Dupain-Cheng bakery before grabbing some groceries and heading home.

When Adrien woke up, Tom and Sabine brought him up (carefully, with Tom supporting him) to the upstairs guest bedroom. His room was about three steps away from Marinette's. It had a single bed, a dresser and a closet. That was pretty much it. Adrien crawled into the bed and curled up, falling asleep again. Sabine left the lights on.

It was dark outside when Adrien woke up again. The light from the lamp in the corner hurt his eyes, but it was a relief as he blurrily blinked his eyes and looked around. Marinette knocked on the door and let herself in. "Hey," she said softly.

"Hey," Adrien replied back. She sat down on the edge of the bed.

"How do you feel?"

"Awful," Adrien confessed, running his good hand through his hair. "I just... I know this is all over and I should be okay, but..."

"Adrien, you shouldn't be okay!" Marinette interrupted him. "Nobody expects you to be okay. Nobody wants you to fake being okay. You went through a lot, more than I can imagine. Nothing you feel or do is stupid. I don't know how you managed to hold up this long."

He shrugged. "I'm a good faker."

"I know that now." Marinette scooted closer to him, leaning against the pillows and cradling his head in her lap. He closed his eyes again and exhaled softly. "All those cat puns, 'My Lady', 'Princess', your goofy grin. I couldn't see through it before. I guess I knew I was missing something... But we never really talked often enough for me to figure it out."

"I'm a model, but I think I would be a better actor."

"Hey, you can do whatever you want, except for one thing."

"Oh really? And what is that one thing?"

"Promise me you'll never decide to be a comedian!"

Marinette had expected his Chat laughing style to slip past his lips, loud and joyful and boisterous. She had expected at least one of Adrien's soft chuckles. But all he did was twitch the corner of his mouth into a grin. She frowned.

"You're not okay."

"Never said I was."

"We're going to fix that," she announced determinedly. He shrugged again, his eyes still closed. Marinette felt a tug at her heartstrings. "I'm going to go get you something to eat. I hope you like croissants," she informed him as she slid out from underneath him and walked to the door. He grunted in response.

Marinette walked into the kitchen, where she found Tikki munching on cookies. Sabine was bustling around in the kitchen, putting pots and pans away. Marinette went over and hugged her mother. The mother and daughter embraced each other tightly, Sabine slowly rocking Marinette back and forth. She felt like a little girl again, safe from everything in her mother's arms.

"What do I do, maman?" she asked softly. Sabine pondered the question for a minute.

"Love him. Be there for him. Whether or not he knows it, that's what he wants the most. It's what he needs the most. You won't see an immediate change, but things will get better. Give it time."

"Thank you," Marinette said, smiling a bit. "It just kills me to see him like this."

"He has a past to reconcile and a future to worry about. Think about how you would feel if you didn't have me and your father."

"I wouldn't be able to survive without your support."

"Exactly. I'm always here for you, and you know that. Adrien doesn't. He doesn't have a father, and as far as he knows his mother isn't ready for him. He doesn't know what he wants to do or what he wants to be. He needs a constant in his life. Be that constant," Sabine advised. Marinette nodded as she piled croissants on a plate.

"Love you!" she called as she left the room. Sabine sighed. Her child was growing up. Tikki nodded sympathetically at Sabine and followed her chosen out of the room.

#########################################################################################################

Adrien crawled out of bed and changed into sweatpants and a hoodie before collapsing back upon the soft sheets. Sabine came and said goodnight before she flipped off the light. Adrien rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling. The darkness. It was horrifying... It was closing in. There could be something in here. Under the bed, in the closet maybe. Was that a shadow?

Adrien stiffened and immediately pushed the thought from his mind. A small scratching sound caught his attention, but he tried his best to ignore it. " _It's just Plagg. It's just Plagg. It's just Plagg_ ," he told himself over and over again.

He didn't know how long he laid there, frozen in fear and fighting for control of the rational part of his own mind. He glanced at the clock. He had held out for an hour. Suddenly, the old house creaked and Adrien couldn't take it anymore. Letting out a squeak, he pulled the blanket around him and slipped off of the bed, limping to Marinette's room. He knocked softly, and when there was no response he invited himself in.

"Mari? Are you awake?" he asked softly, poking her. She groaned and rolled over, her hair all over her face.

"Not anymore... Waddya want?" she groaned.

"My lady, I..." Marinette cracked an eye open.

"Oh, it's you. Thought you were Alya for a second. Are you okay?"

"It's just... The darkness... It's stupid and I-" She let him get no farther. She grabbed his good arm and pulled him carefully into the bed next to her. He snuggled down under the blanket, burying his face in the pillow. It smelled like lavender and vanilla and Marinette. He cuddled up next to her, purring softly.

"Kitty," she murmured happily.

They both slept well that night.

############################################################################################################################################################

"What are you doing?" Ladybug asked exasperatingly. Papillon shushed her.

"Quiet, LB. She's concentrating," Jade told her, putting a hand on his friend's spotted shoulder. Ladybug raised her eyebrows as she surveyed the scene in front of her. Papillon had currently akumatized Queen Bee, and had given her the power of mind reading. Volpino stood a few feet away from them, looking nervous.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Ladybug asked. Jade shrugged. "I never experimented with my powers like this..."

"Yeah, you went flying around the city like an idiot and crashed into Chat, who was trying to tightrope walk on his baton fifty feet above the ground like an idiot," Papillon retorted, keeping her gaze on Queen Bee.

"Think of a number," Queen Bee instructed Volpino. The boy furrowed his brows on concentration. "Seventy three!"

"You got it," Volpino nodded. Papillon released the akuma.

"Well that's another power I can grant," Papillon said confidently, planting her hands on her hips. Ladybug cocked her head.

"How many other things have you tried?" she asked, not really wanting to know the answer. Papillon shrugged bashfully while Jade chuckled. "You know, this is not how a patrol is supposed to work," Ladybug informed them.

"C'mon, we saved the world like three days ago! Cut us some slack!" Papillon said. Queen Bee nodded. Ladybug shook her head.

"Patrol's over. I'll show you the routes tomorrow so you can all start doing it properly. And guess what? Chat will be joining us! He got my mom's okay!" The teens cheered happily.

"The fans will be so happy to hear this! I'll have to snap a few distant pics, of course," Papillon said, clapping her hands together. Jade was grinning like an idiot. Volpino was fun to hang out with, but he missed his best friend. Queen Bee felt inexplicably proud of Adrien for some reason.

"See you tomorrow!" Queen Bee called, diving off the side of the building. Volpino waved and quietly disappeared on his hoverboard. Papillon gave Ladybug a hug before taking off, and Jade gave her a wink. Ladybug sighed before taking off to get home. Adrien was waiting to have his butt kicked in a round of Ultimate Mecha Strike III.

############################################################################################################################################################

The next night, Ladybug was back on the rooftops, this time with Chat Noir at her side. He perched on an air vent, watching as she pointed out the patrol routes to the rest of the Miraculous Team. Her finger ran up and down the lines of roads. The others paid close attention.

"I think that will cover it. This way, most of Paris will be covered and each of us won't have to do an overwhelming amount of work," she finished. Suddenly, they heard a thunk. Ladybug whipped around, yoyo in hand. Chat's baton was at the ready.

Instead of an enemy, they saw a girl. She looked to be about their age, with bright red hair and deep aquamarine eyes. She was dressed in a beautiful blue outfit, which twisted and ran together with purple and green streaks. A hint of gold was sewn in every here and there just for shine. A belt around her waist had two colorful (and deadly) looking fans hanging from it. At the back of her, a beautiful peacock tail spread out behind her.

"I want to help you."

It was more of a statement then a request.

"I know who all of you are. I met your mother, Chat Noir. She gave me this... miraculous. After Chloe.. Queen Bee... made me angry, I felt so helpless. I wanted to help people, but I blindly followed others. I never stood up for myself or anyone else. Now's my chance. I want to learn to become a superheroine."

"Sabrina?" Queen Bee asked suddenly. Understanding dawned upon all of them.

"You're welcome to join us as long as you remain trustworthy and worthy of wielding a miraculous," Ladybug said solemnly, smiling.

Peacock smiled back. It was tentative, but it was a start.

############################################################################################################################################################

Adrien and Marinette had a whole routine worked out. School would start in three days, but for now they just enjoyed each other's company. Gabriel Agreste's funeral took place over the weekend. Adrien had difficulty playing the part of the greiving son shocked by his father's sudden death, but it was passable.

Being able to go out as Chat Noir, even though it was brief and he wasn't allowed to do much, was a relief and a joy. He loved it, and it reminded him how free he could truly be. But for right now, he was happy to stick with his little routine.

Every night Sabine and Tom would say goodnight to each of them separately, Adrien in the guest bedroom and Marinette in her room. Then as soon as they left Adrien crept across the hall and crawled into bed with Marinete, where they snuggled until they fell asleep. Plagg never even bothered moving around with Adrien. Every evening (after eating his usual dinner consisting of WAY too much cheese) he planted himself in Marinette's fabric pile and went to sleep.

"You don't mind this, do you?" Adrien asked suddenly one night, having just snuggled against Marinette.

"Mind what?"

"Me invading your bed every night and taking your time all day and making you worry and... everything," Adrien confessed. Marinette smiled.

"I could never mind, Adrien. You deserve nothing but the best. I don't mind taking care of you at all. Your part of my family now, and I love you."

Adrien ducked his head. "I love you too Mari. I'm glad you're part of my family."

They sat in silence for awhile, until Adrien (who sounded incredibly nervous) broke it. "Hey Princess?"

"What?"

"What if I loved you... a little more than that...?"

"That's great, because I love you a lot more than that," Marinette said, flipping over to face him. She leaned in and their lips connected. And when Marinette pulled away she couldn't help but smile at his face. His hair was tousled and misplaced, and in his baggy hoodie he looked a lot more like Chat than Adrien. And he looked so incredibly kissable...

They shared another kiss, this one more passionate. Gasping for air, Marinette rolled over and buried her head in Adrien's shoulder. "Je t'aime, kitty cat. Bonne nuit."

"Je t'aime, my lady. Bonne Nuit."

 **A/N: First chapter is done and here! I'm gonna need a lot of inspiration to help me through this sequel, so feel free to leave some for me in a review or PM. I'll see you guys next chapter!**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing! Have a great day!**


	2. Madame Agreste

**A/N: Hey everybody! I'm back for the weekly update! This almost didn't get written and I'm sick and miserable... So I'm sorry if it's not my best work. The first half of this chapter is very serious and has a lot to do with the plot. The second half is fluffy nonsense because Secrets and Betrayals seriously lacked that, now didn't it? Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Chapter 2: Madame Agreste**

Emily Agreste woke up with a start on Monday morning, clasping a hand to her chest and taking in a sharp breath of air. The light that would normally comfort her was hidden away behind heavy shades. She looked at her alarm clock. 7:00am. Standing, she shook her head and tried to rid herself of the memory of the nightmare.

It was the same thing every single night. She handed him her miraculous. He laughed triumphantly as he clipped it onto his chest. She barely had time to throw herself out of the way before the explosion. And then he was gone… Gone forever. It was all her fault. She had left him to protect him, and he ended up dying while attempting to bring her back.

After showering, changing into her stiff gray suit, and drinking a quick cup of coffee, she grabbed her car keys and headed out to her car. She ate a breakfast bar on her way to work. It wasn't much, but she didn't have the time or money to make herself a decent breakfast right now.

Emily was a wreck, and she knew it. She had covered the dark bags under her eyes with heavy amounts of makeup, but she knew that some of her closer co-workers would notice her state and inquire about her life. She could imagine what would happen if she said something.

" _I'm sorry. There was just a death in the family and I'm not quite myself. It was someone I was close to._ "

She could already picture their sympathetic smiles and soft "I'm sorry's."

" _Me too_ ," Emily thought. " _Me too…_ "

Pulling into the parking lot of the small police department, she parked in the back of the staff area and headed on in. The receptionist, a plump, smiling woman with a bushel of curly Auburn hair, waved to her with a cheery smile.

"Bonjour, Evelyne!" she called. Emily waved back, forcing the edges of her mouth upwards into a smile. For some reason, even though she had been going by the name Evelyne for around seven years, it still jolted her.

"Bonjour, Sherry!" she responded before moving over to her desk and sitting down. Sighing deeply, she logged into her computer and pulled up her work for the day. Her job was partly as a record-keeper and occasionally she did research. She mainly proof-read, filed, and stored all of the police reports. If they had a case come up and they needed someone to run background checks, she was normally the one asked.

It was kind of an unexpected and seemingly unimportant job, but Emily felt like she was helping somehow… Even if it really wasn't much. Somebody needed to do this job. She got a decent pay out of it, they were a tiny station and didn't get too much government money, but it was sufficient.

Sitting there with her fingers clicking away at the keys, Emily found that she wasn't even paying attention anymore. She was just going through the motions. Click, read, check labels, save, direct into the correct folder. In the background, her mind was far away. Very far away, considering that it now resided in memories from twenty years ago. Those were the good old days…

Suddenly, Emily felt a tug of curiosity, and also a tug of fear. The fight and the news of Gabriel Agreste's death were all over the news. What if her old enemies had seen it? The police claimed that they had completely shut the operation down, but that was impossible. They had bases and spies and networks and street rats all over the world. What if they saw Peacock? What if they put two and two together?

Suddenly, her heart tightened in her chest and she was barely able to breathe. What if they went after Adrien? Forcing herself to calm down, she pulled open the police departments main background search engine. She typed in the name of the leader of the entire operation.

NEUTRALIZED was what was on the top of his case file. That was the fancy way of saying he was dead, and the police were forced to kill him in order to subdue him. She typed in the names of every single leader and contact she could think of. They were all dead or serving life sentences in jail. Not a single one of the big names were left. So she pulled up her search engine and typed the company name into it.

She spent hours there, searching names and addresses, but she found nothing. This gave her both comfort and a strange sense of paranoia. On one hand, it was good to see that the company and all of its benefactors had been annihilated. On another hand, she almost wish that one or two small articles came up. Emily liked to keep her family close and her enemies closer. No news was not necessarily good news. It could also mean that your opponent was just really good at hiding.

"Hey Evelyne, several of us were going to head out for lunch at the café around the corner. Would you like to join us?" Sherry asked, leaning across the desk. Emily frantically crossed out her tabs and switched to her screen saver, a picture of a peacock with its tail fanned out. What could she say? She liked the colors.

"Um, no thanks Sherry. I have a lot of work to catch up on after that surprise couple days I had to take off because of my family emergency," Emily replied with a completely neutral face. Sherry looked at her quizzically.

"Is everything all right, Eve?"

"Yeah," Emily replied, glancing at her empty screen and reminding herself that there were no more enemies. No more threat. No more company. "Yeah, everything's fine. You know what? I think I will join you. I'm starving!"

Emily stood and grabbed her purse, following Sherry as the plump lady waddled across the room, to where several other co-workers were waiting, her red heels clicking on the marble floor. Emily took a deep breath and reminded herself that everything was okay. She'd be moving close to her son in several weeks. She would be with him. He and his friends were safe. Everything was going to be just fine.

#########################################################################################################

Everything was not just fine.

Not even several thousand miles away, a man was sitting in an uncomfortable office chair, boredly clicking back and forth between his real job and Minesweeper. The man was average height. He was not short, but he was a bit burly and hunched over, making him look smaller than he actually was. His face was rough and uneven, and his shave job was very hasty. His small beady eyes flickered back and forth, idly reading the dozens of coded sentences that popped up on his screen.

Suddenly, something caught the man's attention. He clicked on the code, and was brought to an informational site that one of his much smarter colleagues had set up to hack into and read the search history of the computer that the code had come from. The man was excited. This was the first time in seven years that anyone had tripped a web spider he had set up!

He scanned through the latest browsing history. It was a police computer, but the firewalls were so easy to breach it was almost laughable. All of the searches within the last three hours were at his fingertips. As he scrolled, his eyes widened. Names, addresses, companies. All of these had been searched, some even run through official search engines for background searches. Names that nobody was supposed to know. Addresses that used to be top secret. Companies that according to official records never even existed.

The man's excitement almost grew double as he reached for his phone and typed in the number scrawled across the whiteboard behind him, a number that he had never had to use before. He so deserved a pay raise for this! The number dialed for a minute before somebody on the other end picked up.

"Hello?" The man on the other end sounded almost a bored as the first man was five minutes ago. He also sounded very confused as to why on earth the computer branch would be calling in to central.

"Ello? Is this central? Somebody tripped one of our spiders earlier today. Doing heavy research into the company and searching names and addresses that nobody is supposed to know. This person has got dirt on us," the man informed the operator on the other side, who perked up and paid attention.

"Names and addresses? Sounds like somebody knows too much. Track down the source and the person behind it if you can. I'll alert General Kuiso. Oh, and make it snappy and I'll be sure to mention a pay raise." The operator hung up the phone without another word. His colleague turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Somebody's been searching classified information. Like, type-A classified information. Crap we don't even get told. Some idiot down in Computer Tech just noticed it. I'm gonna go alert the general, see if I can't ge a little raise out of this information," the operator said, smiling. His buddy shrugged.

"Good luck with that. Grab me some coffee on your way back, Bill."

"Will do!" Bill called back.

#########################################################################################################

"Of course. Sure, I'll tell her. Anything else? Okay, I will. Yep. Love you too! Bye!" Adrien hung up the phone and walked back into the kitchen. Sabine looked up. "My mom wants me to tell you thanks again for letting me stay here," Adrien told her, hopping up onto one of the kitchen chairs. Sabine smiled.

"No problem, honey. Would you mind grabbing that batch of cookies out of the oven?" she requested. The blonde boy nodded, hopping off of the chair and grabbing a pair of oven mits while crossing the room. Marinette was at Alya's house with Chloe and Sabrina, having a 'girl's night'. So he got to spend the whole evening with Tom and Sabine, which sounded awesome because they basically adopted them as his son.

Setting the hot pan down on the table, Adrien tossed the oven mits back before pulling on his apron and going to get the ingredients for the icing. "Dear, you should come look at this!" Tom boomed as he watched the boy move around the kitchen. "When the boy first arrived he didn't know a spoon from a spatula, and now he's baking like a pro."

Adrien snorted as he looked up at Tom. "You better watch out, I can eat these things a lot faster than I can frost them!" Tom roared with laughter.

"We'll save some for dinner," Sabine promised, ruffling Adrien's hair as she crossed the kitchen. "That's the last batch of cookies. What do you say after this we eat dinner and then maybe you can teach me to play that car game with the funny little mustache man and his little creatures."

Tom and Adrien blinked in confusion.

"You know," Sabine continued, "The one where the cars always slip on those yellow bananas? That's so funny... You and Mari are always playing it!"

"Oh, you mean Mario Kart!" Adrien announced. "Sure, we can teach you to play. It's really easy!"

Tom nudged Adrien's side and stage whispered, "Let's put it on 200cc and race on Rainbow Road!" Adrien laughed all the way to the dinner table.

#########################################################################################################

"Alright girl, spill!" Alya demanded, tossing a pink pillow at the blonde girl. Chloe batted it out of the air, sitting down cross legged on the ground. Sabrina looked up from Mari's hair, which she was styling into cat ears on her head.

"Spill what? This lemonade?" Chloe asked innocently, holding it above Alya's head and tilting it slightly.

"If you spill that on my carpet I'll use your hair to mop it up," Alya threatened. "No, I'm talking about you and Nath. Have you asked him out yet?" Chloe blushed slightly.

"Why would I do that?" she asked.

"C'mon Chlo, it's obvious you have a huge crush on him!" Sabrina spoke up, jabbing another bobby pin into Marinette's hair. Chloe shook her head stubbornly and Alya sighed.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Eiher you ask the boy out, or I start posting Queen Bee and Volpino pics on the Ladyblog with cheesy hearts and a cute ship name!"

Chloe gasped. "You wouldn't!"

"She would," Marinete warned Chloe, sipping some lemonade. "What are you even doing with my hair, Bri?"

Chloe and Alya turned to look and both immediately squealed. "Omigosh Mariiiii!" Alya cooed. "You look adorable!"

"Wait!" cried Chloe. She dashed over to her bag and yanked out her makeup kit. She sat down in front of Marinette and pulled out some black eyeliner. "Close your eyes," she instructed. Marinette obeyed, and with a few expert strokes of the pencil, Marinette had perfect cat-eye eyeliner. The girls sat back and admired their handiwork.

"This is too good. I can't handle this!" Alya squealed, whipping out her phone. Marinette's eyes jerked open.

"Hey, NO PICTURES until I see what you did to me!" she announced, heading for the bathroom mirror. When she saw herself, she couldn't help but be impressed. Sabrina had managed to take a bunch of her hair and tuck it into two triangles on the top of her head. Chloe's cat-eye makeup added the perfect touch. It also helped that she was wearing her green and black pajama top with 'Princess' embroidered in bright pink on the front. Her own handiwork, of course.

"Pictures!" Alya squealed, jerking Marinette down to eye level and circling her, snapping away. Marinette groaned and then smiled for the camera, and even raised her hands and made a clawing motion. "You look so good! Adrien is gonna love this!"

"Now wait a doggone second, I never said we could send those to Adri-"

"Oops! Too late!" Sabrina said, tapping the send button on Alya's phone before Marinette could do anything. Alya's eyes widened.

"Sabrina! You just sent that to everyone on my contacts!" she screeched. Marinette's eyes nearly bulged out of her head as she turned a bright pink.

"WHAT?"

"Um... sorry?" Sabrina said, shrugging. Chloe and Alya giggled as Marinette screamed into a pillow.

"The kids at school will never let me live this down! What will Adrien say? My parents will see it! I don't even want to know how many other people you have in your contacts! MY LIFE IS OVER!" Marinette groaned. Sabrina bashfully looked at the floor while Ayla shook her head.

"Hey, if it's already been broadcasted, can I post this on the Ladyblog?"

"NO!"

 **A/N: So I've been experimenting with different POVs. Let me know what you think! Several people have asked me if inspiration means that they should send me their ideas for the fic, and I say ABSOLUTELY! Your ideas are the greatest, even if you don't think so. By all means bring 'em on!**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing! Have a great day!**


	3. Training The Newbie's

**A/N: Okay I know it's been like a month but in my defense, public school sucks. And I'm that person that needs seven hours of sleep at night or they will turn into a literal monster. And I'm also that person taking multiple Honors classes (including a freaking honors SOPHOMORE class) and who stresses about getting all A's... So my life for the last month and a half has basically consisted of school, hanging with my friends like twice, and sleeping. But I screwed sleep tonight because you guys deserve this chapter, especially if you're still reading this. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 3: Training the Newbie's**

 **Marinette** : _Group patrol in one hour_

Promptly an hour later, Ladybug was sitting on top of a rooftop, letting her legs dangle off of the edge. Chat Noir was stretched out on the rooftop, his head in her lap, purring as she absentmindedly ran her fingers through his hair. A soft swooshing noise alerted them of Papillon's arrival. After several more minutes, everyone else had arrived. Everyone except for Jade.

"Where is that boy?" Papillon asked, tapping her foot impatiently and shifting from side to side. Finally, Jade zipped up to the rooftop, panting.

"Sorry guys, had to stop a mugging on my way over," he apologized.

"Are you alright?" Ladybug asked. Jade shrugged.

"Guy nearly got me. Thankfully I took martial arts when I was like six. Plus these super hero powers are pretty legit. Gives you enhanced strength and endurance and all that. For the record, punching people kinda hurts…"

"Make a fist and show me how you punched him," Ladybug instructed, sliding out from underneath Chat and then pulling him into a standing position. Chat yawned and leaned against Volpino, taking most of the weight off of his left leg. Jade looked at Ladybug quizzically but followed her instructions, curling his hand into a fist (with his thumb inside of his fingers) and held it out to her. Ladybug face palmed.

"Goodness gracious, Jade. You're going to break your thumb in half! You put it outside of your other fingers. Like this." She demonstrated, showing all of the others. They nodded and Jade looked kinda sheepish.

"Oh… I didn't know. Sorry…" he apologized. Ladybug smiled.

"It's fine, JT. But this is why I called for this full-group patrol. While you guys have already figured out how to navigate the rooftops, use your general powers, and have gotten used to the enhanced capabilities thing, being a superhero takes a lot of work in other places too. Chat and I had to figure it out by ourselves. We broke a lot of bones and left with a lot of bruises. Being a superhero doesn't mean you automatically know how to fight."

"Well, I took karate for a while so that was insanely helpful," Chat commented. Ladybug nodded.

"And I have good luck on my side. Luckily, you have us. So you don't have to go through all of the pain and mistakes and near failures. Or complete failures."

"So where do we start?" Sabrina asked.

"The beginning, which is a very good place to start," Chat sang. They all stared at him. "What? Being homeschooled means you have way too much time on your hands to watch movies."

"Anyway, let's start with the basics. Correct stance! Spread your legs out, far enough apart that all of your weight isn't in one place, but close enough together that you have solid balance. Slide on foot a little in front of the other, whichever is more comfortable. Then evenly distribute your weight," Ladybug ordered. They all followed her instructions to the best of their ability.

For the next hour, Ladybug and Chat Noir drilled their friends on proper stance, posture, and how to move about without losing your balance. After that, they were taught how to land on their feet and how to land with the least amount on injuries if they were falling. By the time they were finished, they were soaked with sweat.

"This is awful! We didn't even do anything! Why am I so sweaty and gross?" Queen Bee complained, wiping the sweat off of her forehead with her arm.

"It's hot out here," Ladybug commented, crossing her arms.

"Not as hot as you are," Chat said quietly in her ear, seizing the opportunity. She grinned slightly. "Alright guys, we're done here. Papi, have you figured out the patrol routes?"

"Yeah, I have the map back at my house," the purple clad girl nodded.

"Right then. Everyone want to go to Mari's house for a cold glass of lemonade and some croissants?" Chat asked. The others cheered.

"Race you!" Jade laughed, activating his super speed.

"Not fair!" Papillon screeched, taking off after him. Queen Bee flew after him, buzzing loudly.

"Bye!" Peacock shouted to Volpino. "Every red-head for themself!" Ladybug tugged on Chat's arm before he followed them.

"You know, it's your home too now," she told him. He smiled at her, a smile that made her want to melt right where she stood.

"Thanks, M'lady. Let's go home." He paused for a minute before grinning wickedly at her. "Shortcut?"

"Shortcut!" she agreed. The two took off.

############################################################################################################################################################

"General Kuiso, we just got the full report from Central," a rough faced man scurried into the board room, handing the general a white envelope. The general nodded his thanks and the man scurried off again.

"What is this, Kuiso?" the man sitting at the head of the table boomed. His seat was no taller than any of theirs, but he seemed to loom over the other board members, a threatening and authoritative presence. His sharply defined face and his electric blue eyes gave him almost a crazy sort of look.

"A report from Central. Somebody tripped one of the spiders that Computer Tech has monitoring the internet searches about us. They informed me yesterday, and I just received the full case file on the person doing the searching. Or at least, the person the computer in question belongs too."

"What where they searching?" Ms. Glucide, head of the treasury.

"Everything. Important files, addresses, names others aren't supposed to know," General Kuiso replied, studying the contents of the envelope.

"And the person doing the searching?" the man at the head of the table boomed.

"A woman by the name of Evelyne Etserga. She works for the police department in Rochforsth and used her police computer for some heavier searches."

"I see. Find out everything you can about this…woman. Nobody is supposed to know what she knows. We need to figure out how she has this information. Then we get rid of her," the man ordered. General Kuiso nodded, handing the file to the head of the Tech division, who sat across from him.

"Run a background search, scour the internet. Find out all you can about ."

Two hours later, the meeting had adjourned and the board members had all left the room and returned to their various jobs. General Kuiso was heading down to inspect their new trainees, and monitor their progress. Everything under his watch was kept very orderly, and all of the trainees were frightened to death of him. But this was good, because fearful people won't break rules.

As he strode down the long hallway, lined with cameras and the occasional guard, an informative from the Tech division scurried up to him, holding another manila envelope. Upon handing the envelope to the General, he informed him of the troubling circumstances behind it.

"This is a message from Mr. Konya. We researched the woman in question, but we found nothing. No birth record, social security, insurance, medical records. Her name is filed in the police department as an employee, but they must have tricked them somehow. The police department would never hire somebody without running background checks. Either this lady is incredibly skilled and hid her entire history somehow, or she's using an alias. Or both."

General Kuiso slammed his fist against the wall, startling the poor Tech employee. "Blast!" he roared. "Very well, I shall inform the chairman of this. Keep digging. The police department must have a picture of her on file." The Tech man nodded and hurried away. General Kuiso watched him go, cursing under his breath.

As he continued his walk to the training facility, his troubled mind began to remember. He remembered the old times, before the corporation had fallen to shambles and the main headquarters had burned to the ground. Back then, they had practically owned the streets of Paris. One of their men was on every corner, luring kids in, getting them hooked on drugs. It wasn't long before the kids would come back, begging, willing to pay unbelievable amounts of money.

Of course, it wasn't like they didn't face opposition. The police force tried, the really did, but they could never rein in the power of such a large scale operation. They most they ever did was arrest several guys and pull them off the streets, and once they did manage to find one of the corporation's tiniest bases, which the corporation was forced to abandon.

The biggest threat was probably the superhero duo, Peacock and Papillon. Those two wiped the street rat agents off of the streets, locking them in prison. Sure, they had been trained to die rather than to give information to the police, but the loss of men, especially where they were most needed, hit the corporation hard. It was becoming harder and harder to gain new street rats, and some of their biggest headquarters in Paris had been destroyed... by mere teenagers!

Peacock and Papillon had been the bane of General Kuiso's existance for years. As head of the 'military' his entire job for around ten years was figuring out how to exterminate those two pests... although it became apparent over time that they were not merely 'pests'. They were a huge problem! He tried and planned and plotted. He bought the most high-tech weapons money could buy. But again and again, he continually failed. The head of the corporation, Razeal, was less than pleased. And when Razeal was not pleased... Well, it was better not to find out what happened, the General mused, stroking two fingers over the scar on the side of his face.

Reaching his destination, the general pushed the old memories deep into his brain, forcing a barrier between them and his present state of mind. He continued on, striding into the military center, his boots echoing in the silence. He had soldiers to whip into shape, especially as the revolution was about to begin. Their time was now.

##############################################################################

It was dark.

That was probably the most cliché way for a nightmare to start. Not, of course, that Marinette realized it was a nightmare at the time. She was too busy staring up out of the thick aspens and pines, up into the night sky. The moon was a thin crescent, providing little-to-no light, and even though the stars were more prominent away from the city, the thick clouds blotted them out.

Marinette took a few steps forward, admiring the beauty of the forest that she was surrounded by. She knew she should be leerie, but she was drunk with appreciation for nature. It made her want to grab her sketchbook and get busy. Finally, she looked around and she noticed the uncanny aura that surrounded this place.

Hearing voices, she weaved through the trees and came to a small clearing. Inside of it stood Alya, Nino, Chloe, Nathan, and Sabrina. She skipped forward, happy to see something she recognized. "Guys!" she called, walking over. They turned around. She halted as she noticed each of their faces was marred by a deep scowl. "Guys...?"

From the other side of the clearing, she heard a voice. "I'm sorry, LB. I tried to help. I really did."

She spun around, her eyes catching a flash of green and gold as Chat Noir disappeared into the trees. "Chat?" Mari said, feeling more confused by the minute. Where was she? Was this real? "Okay, what's going on?" she asked, turning to her friends.

"Why don't you ask him!" Alya growled, pointing an accusing finger at Nino, whose eyes lit up with rage.

"Me? Suddenly it's all my fault now? Hm, let's remember who dragged us all here in the first place!" he shot back, getting all up in Alya's face. The girl shoved him and back and swiveled to face Chloe.

"I would never have done this if someone hadn't fed us false information!" She said, directly towards Chloe. Chloe sent Marinette a 'It's not my fault, I'm totally innocent' look to Marinette.

"Um, excuse me, how was I supposed to know it was all a trap! I'm not the one who looks up people and makes sure they have trustworthy resources. Isn't that what you do?"

"Will you two stop fighting! You're making everything worse! We're stuck here and all you care about is blaming each other! I'm sick of it!" Nathaneal shouted at them, to Marinette's extreme surprise. His face was as red as his hair.

"It'll be better if you stay out of it, Nath," Sabrina advised, taking his arm and pulling him towards the trees gently. He gave in, casually throwing an arm around her as they disappeared into the dark foliage. Chloe, staring at their backs, looked like she was about to explode. Marinette had seen her angry, but she had never seen Chloe this angry. She looked like she was about to pour kerosene into Sabrina's hair and then set it on fire without hesitation.

"I don't need any of you!" The blonde practically screamed, running off in the total opposite direction as Nathan and Sabrina. Alya slapped Nino harshly on the face and left as well, the darkness swallowing her form. Nino, eyes lit with rage, straightened his cap on his head, crossed his arms, and left. Marinette was alone in the words, surrounded by trees, fireflies, and owls crying in the night...

############################################################################

"inette? MARINETTE!" A loud voice snapped Marinette back to reality. She rubbed her head.

"Yeah, sorry. What were you saying?" She opened her eyes to see Adrien staring at her worriedly. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know! You just totally spaced on me there! It was weird, your eyes got all distant and you stopped responding... FOR THREE WHOLE MINUTES!" Adrien looked genuinely upset, and Marinette was beginning to freak out a bit herself. That was really weird... was that like, a daydream or something?

"Well, that's never happened before. Maybe I fell asleep with my eyes open? It's possible... I think we should go to bed..." Marinette said, trying to downplay it as much as possible. Adrien frowned, but let it go all the same. They could talk about it in the morning.

The two of them crawled into their respective beds (the Dupain-Chengs had moved an extra bed into Marinette's room for Adrien). They left the lights on, as always. Mari had gotten used to sleeping with them on and Adrien couldn't sleep with them off.

"Bonne nuit, kitty."

"Bonne nuit, bugaboo."

 **A/N: I'm so tired and I don't even know what I'm doing anymore. Hopefully next chapter will be out soon, thanks for reading and reviewing!**


	4. Fluff and Flashbacks

**A/N: Hey guys! Sayuri and I are back! Did you miss us? Hopefully I'll continue to type chapters somewhat regularly. I have an idea of where this is going but suggestions are helpful and appreciated! Anyway, this is a slightly shorter than usual because I'm pulling myself out of writers block. Also, I typed this on a tablet which is NOT as easy as a computer so ignore spelling errors!**

 **Chapter 4: Fluff and Flashbacks**

Going back to school for the first time after such a long and event-filled break was difficult for everybody . Most of the kids were still leery after the whole undead-army-tearing-apart-the-city-incident. But Ladybug, Chat Noir, and their entire team of superheroes inspired new confidence in everyone in who lived in Paris. The teachers were now frantic to get their curriculums back on course. They had unexpectedly lost at least two weeks of school, and they were not very happy about it at all.

Thankfully, Adrien was used to schedules and he woke Marinette up in plenty of time for he to get ready for school. The two of them rode in Tom's car, because Adrien still had problems with mobility. He hated it, and he always felt like a burden. At least he hadn't broken his good arm, as Marinette had pointed out. His handwriting would still look nice. Hooray…. He limped his way up to the classroom with Marinette and took his place next to Nino. School had always mildly interested him, but he was more fidgety today and didn't want to have to think.

Surprisingly, school seemed to be normal. Adrien hadn't really known what he was expecting when he walked through the door. He expected everything to have changed somehow. His entire life had been shaken and crumbled, and walking until the same scene he used to walk into every single day shocked him at first. He almost felt saddened. His father had always protested against him going to school. It had annoyed him at the time, but now he wished his father was around to disapprove of things again. He wished his father hadn't been Hawkmoth. He wished his mother had never left.

Nino greeted him with a fist bump before turning to Marinette and Alya and starting a conversation. Adrien scanned the room. Chloe waved at him briefly and Sabrina smiled. Kim was playing some game on his phone, with Max leaning over his shoulder and giving him tips. Nathan was in the back, head down, furiously scribbling away at his sketchpad. Ivan was sleeping, Maylene hadn't arrived yet, and Rose and Juleka were giggling about something on Rose's phone. Adrien sighed and pulled out a notebook and a pencil. Madame Bustier walked in shortly before the bell rang. Adrien sighed as she began to furiously pile homework and projects upon them.

###

At lunchtime, everyone went to Alya's apartment. It was farther away than Marinette's house, but it was close enough to be convenient. Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng had been feeding all of them a lot lately, and they decided to make their own meal for once. Besides, Alya's mother was a talented chef and she always kept a multitude of good ingredients in her house. Alya started dumping things onto the counter.

"Let's see, we have some lettuce, carrots, bread, all of these spices, flour and eggs and stuff, Nutella," she paused to look lovingly at the jar before setting it down. "Pasta and sauce, a watermelon, why is that there? Nevermind, we also have some other fruits and veggies, bacon-"

"How about pancakes?" Sabrina interrupted.

"Pancakes for lunch?" Chloe asked disdainfully. Sabrina shrugged.

"That would be….. AWESOME!" Nino cheered. Alya grabbed a mixing bowl and shoved it into Marinette's hands.

"Mari and I will make the batter. Sabrina can cook them. Chloe can learn how to make her own food. You boys go do something else!" Alya shooed the boys put of the kitchen. They grumbled as the left. Once they were gone, Alya shut the door and rubbed her hands together. "Let's get to work!"

The boys stood awkwardly in Alya's living room. "Well now what?" asked Adrien. Nino plopped down on the couch, looking thoughtful.

"I have a idea! We should do something cool for the girls!" he announced. Adrien snickered.

"You just want to impress Alya," he teased. Nino tipped his hat up and nodded.

Heck ya bro. We aren't all like you. Some of us need to actually work hard to impress a girl!" Adrien grinned.

"I have an idea," Nathan said quietly. The other boys turned. "Alya likes Nutella, right? My aunt used to make us this super awesome breakfast when she came to visit. She make pancakes and then spread Nutella on them like butter, and topped it all off with whipped cream and berries."

Adrien and Nino sat there, mind blown. "That is awesome!" Nino exclaimed.

"But we don't have whipped cream or berries…." Nathan said sadly. Nino grinned mischievously.

"I can remedy that. I'll run to the store real quick!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, checking to see how much money he had. "Yeah, I'm broke," he informed the others. "I don't have money for this."

"And I can remedy that!" Adrien said, giving Nino a ten dollar bill.

"Thanks bro! You're the best! Wayzz, shell on!" Nino walked out the door and disappeared into the day. Adrien glanced at his watch. They had forty-five minutes before they had to be back for class.

About twenty minutes later, Nino had long since returned. The girls called the boys into the kitchen, where they had two plates piled high with pancakes. The boys told the girls to go sit in the living room because they had a surprise of their own. Needless to say, the girls were very curious but Nino shoved them out the door and locked it. Nathan started spreading Nutella into the pancakes and Nino put on the whipped cream. Adrien sprinkled some berries on the top.

"Alright ladies, you can come back in!" Nino called, unlocking the door. Alta promptly shoved past Nino and into the kitchen closely followed by the other three. She froze, her , out dropped open and she stared at the wonder of it.

"Did you put Nutella on pancakes?" Marinette asked. Chloe wrinkled her nose. Nino nodded enthusiastically.

"Wait till you try it!" He exclaimed. Marinette shrugged and sat down at the table, grabbing a plate and a fork. She cut of a piece of the pancake and ate it. The boys held their breath as she chewed and swallowed. Suddenly, her face lit up.

"This is amazing!" she said happily. She promptly shoved another bite into her mouth. Aly a picked up a fork and tried some as well. Reluctantly, Chloe and Sabrina followed her example. None of them were disappointed. The boys sat down as well and tasted their handiwork. Tikki flew over to the Nutella jar and started eating the Nutella when nobody was looking. Plagg noticed, however, and he smirked. He would have tried to put Nutella on his cheese but cheese didn't need to be improved. It was perfection to begin with.

###

Sabine sat on the couch in her house, taking a short break from working the cash register in the bakery. She sipped her tea quietly as she stared put the window. Tom came and sat down next to her, putting his arm around her shoulders. "Darling, who's running the bakery?" she asked absent-mindedly.

"I closed it for the lunch hour. I think it would be nice to eat together instead of running around baking things," Tom said. "You've been very nostalgic lately, honey. What's on your mind?"

"Oh, just recalling our younger days," Sabine sighed. Tom chuckled.

"Oh yes, the good old days. We imagined our future to be so much different back then. I didn't think we'd ever settle down, more or less run a family business."

"Well, you always were a wild card, blown this way and that with the wind. Having a crush on a man like you was the hardest thing to do. But baking was always your passion, no matter what your father said." Sabine commented. She took another sip of her tea.

"And you're still just as beautiful as you were all those years ago," Tom replied, brushing her hair to the side.

 ** _Flashback_** :

 _Ladybug raced across the rooftops. Her heart was pounding in her chest with feverish excitement. She laughed out loud as she shot over the predetermined finish line seconds before her partner. Her short hair, which had been neatly clipped to her head with red hair clips, was now flying everywhere. She turned and flashed a triumphant smile at the boy next to her. "See! Biggest isn't always fastest!"_

 _Chat Noir scowled good-naturedly. He often teased the girl about her below average height and petite frame. He, however, was very tall and very solid. He had short brown hair and dark green eyes that accented his cat-suit perfectly. He scuffed his boot on the ground. "You did have a head start!" he protested._

 _"Because you offered me one!" Ladybug protested._

 _"I was being chivalrous!"_

 _"You should probably make sure you're fast enough to be chivalrous," Ladybug teased._

 _"Whatever Love Bug. Come on, let's go find some bad guys to bring in!" He did a back flip over the building, leaving Ladybug behind. She blushed madly at the nickname before sighing. Her Chat Noir was so playful. But he was also fickle. He displayed emotions easily and often changed his mind. She could never pin him down for long, and right when she thought she knew him, he surprised her._

 _She doubted she would ever find a right time to tell him she loved him._

 _But impossible crushes aside, she had a job to do. She promptly followed Chat down off of the building, and the two of them prowled the streets together. The night was young, and they both felt free and invincible. Nothing could stop them, and nothing could slow them down. They were heroes in the moonlight, destined to live, destined to love, and destined to have a very lovely daughter ._

 _ **End Flashback**_

"Sometimes I find myself wishing I could turn back the time, and re-live those moments, Sabine said quietly. "But then I see how much we have here. A beautiful, strong, confident daughter. An If we don't eventually have Adrien as a son-in-law I will turn in my "Mother Knows Everything" card."

Tom laughed. "Our Marinette has grown up so fast. Remember when she was a four year old and she would snatched cookies so fast we couldn't even stop her?"

"Remember when she found a worm in one of my plants and decided to keep it as a pet? What did she name it again?"

"Felix. Felix the worm," Tom mused, shaking his head. "And now she's off wearing a spandex suit, living true to her bloodline and making us so proud."

"I just hope she finds the happy ending we did," Sabine said smiling. She leaned into Tom's warm embrace and the two of them just sat there together, feeling peaceful for the first time in weeks.

 **A/N: Mamma Sabine and Papa Tom fluff anyone? Do you guys want more flashbacks about Tom and Sabine as Ladybug and Chat Noir, and/or Gabriel and Emily as Papillon and Peacock? Just let me know! Next chapter will have some real action and not just useless fluff, I swear!**

 **Anyone want to draw Tom and Sabine as LB and CN? I love all fanart, and I always post links in my chapters! Also Felix the Worm XD #references**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing! Have a great day!**


	5. Danger In The Air

**A/N: Hello everyone! Here is the chapter I promised before the end of the break! (My break, at least.) At last, we finally get some things moving in this chapter! The plot will start to progress and I'll have less filler chapters.**

 **Over the beginning of the break I wrote two oneshots (** **If the Jacket Fits, Wear It** **and** **Christmas Kitten** **), so if you're bored and you want to read something you can check those out. I hopefully will be writing two more song oneshots for Miraculous Music, so be on the lookout for those.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Chapter 5: Danger In the Air**

Alya was bored. She had assumed that as soon as she received her superpowers, her lifestyle would instantly be changed. She had expected dangerous foes, consistent and challenging battle, and lots of drama. What she got was a handful of streets to patrol and a promise of training. With Hawkmoth gone, there was no major enemy. The most that she could take care of were muggers that lurked in alleyways.

What annoyed her the most was that Marinette and Adrien (well, Ladybug and Chat Noir mostly) insisted that she didn't take on the muggers in the alleyways. They always said to call them and they would handle it. Which was absolutely ridiculous because Adrien was still pretty injured. Alya was pretty confident she could handle a mugger or two! She didn't understand why her friends insisted that she leave it to them.

The whole point of more superheroes was so that Ladybug and Chat Noir didn't have to handle everything by themselves. However, the duo insisted that the new superheroes shouldn't fight any villains, and that they weren't ready. Alya was sick and tired of it. Every other night she patrolled the endless streets of Paris, and she never saw any action. Not once.

It was one such night that night. Papillon was running on the rooftops, doing backflips, front flips, and every other kind of flip imaginable in an attempt to cure her boredom. The night was cold, but Papillon was more than warm enough. Her hot breath came in gasps as she panted. Sliding to a stop, she took a moment to observe the city from a high vantage point. The city was sparkling. Lights from inviting windows were on. The Eiffel Tower was all lit up.

Papillon climbed down a fire escape and dropped to the ground. She walked over to where the Seine sparkled in the moonlight. Papillon took a moment to admire her reflection in the water. Her gray mask had purple tints around the edges. Her dark purple costume was shiny in the light of the moon. The cape that served as wings rustled as a gentle wind brushed by. Papillon reached a gloved hand out to touch her reflection, blurring the image as the ripples danced across the water.

Suddenly, Papillon heard a loud banging noise coming from her right. She straightened up and glanced behind her. She heard another banging noise and muffled pleading. It sounded like a female. Papillon crept forward and peered into the alleyway, her dark purple suit blending into the shadows perfectly. She saw a unkempt looking man holding a gun. He had cornered a middle-aged lady and was gesturing towards her purse.

Papillon felt her blood boil as she stepped forward to take on the mugger. Even though she felt slightly guilty for not listening to Marinette, she was not letting this poor lady get robbed! Even if she called her best friend, she could never get here fast enough. So her mind completely made up, Papillon stepped all the way out of the shadows, startling both the mugger and the woman being mugged.

"Papillon!" the woman gasped in relief. Papillon internally smiled. The citizens of Paris had already learned how to recognize the newer heroes on sight.

"You picked a bad night!" Papillon said to the mugger. She had expected to see him tremble in fear. Or maybe drop his gun and dash away, trying to escape. She had not expected him to burst out laughing. Her jaw dropped. "Wha-what's so funny?"

"You can't stop me, girlie," the man said in a gruff voice. "Why don't you call the real heroes?" He swiveled the gun so that it was pointed at her head.

"I am a real hero!" Papillon insisted. "And you'll believe me when I put you in jail!" She lunged forward, aiming for the man's stomach. The mugger blocked her kick and sent her stumbling backwards. Papillon attacked him with a series of punches, trying desperately to remember what Chat had taught her about her form. Still, she was wobbly and her punches didn't pack much force behind them.

The mugger blocked the first couple punches, and then was hit on his shoulder and his stomach. Shrugging it off, he hauled off and whacked Papillon over the head with the butt of his gun. She stumbled backwards, barely able to remain standing. He head was spinning.

 _"I need to give power to someone_!" she thought desperately. Her thoughts were cloudy and disconnected as the mugger came towards her. " _I don't have magical powers by myself! I need to gift someone_!"

"Will you help me?" Papillon asked the woman, who had picked up her purse and turned to run. "Please! I can give you the power to defeat him!"

"I'm sorry," the woman whispered sadly. "I wish I was more courageous... I have a husband and two children. I can't risk leaving them alone in this world. I can't fight. I'm no hero."

"Please!" Papillon pleaded. "I can make you strong enough to beat him! You won't get hurt!"

"I can't risk it," the woman said. She looked deathly scared, if not for herself than for the teen superhero.

"Then run," Papillon instructed sorrowfully. The woman turned and fled. The mugger watched her go.

"Whatever, I have a better target!" he said. He turned and backhanded Papillon. She fell to her knees, her ears ringing loudly. She gathered her strength and lunged for the man, aiming a kick at his crotch, his weakest area. She managed to hit him hard enough that he stumbled backwards. He aimed his gun at her again.

Looking back on it, Papillon couldn't tell you what happened in much detail. She saw him pull the trigger in the corner of her eye. Her body and survival instincts completely took over and she attempted to throw herself out of the path of the bullet. Images of her childhood flashed before her eyes. It's funny how when confronted with death the brain takes over and you think in quick, staccato images.

The average bullet travels at around 2,500 feet per second. You have to be at least 500 feet away from the gun and react in 0.20 seconds in order to completely dodge a bullet. 20% of all gunshots are fatal. As she threw herself to the ground, Papillon knew that her odds of survival were low. She felt a piercing pain in her upper right arm. Fire spread all up and down that arm. She heard the mugger's footsteps ringing in her ears as he came closer.

Suddenly, a big metal green object crashed against the mugger's skull with a sickening force. It slammed the man against the wall. He crumbled and fell to the ground, unconscious. Another set of footsteps rang in Papillon's ears. Out of the corner of her eye, her blurry vision barely allowed her to make out the familiar green suit and goggles as Jade Turtle bent down to pick up his shield. After tossing it on his back, he rushed over to her.

"Alya!" the boy cried as he fell to his knees next to her. Her mind a jumbled mess, Papillon had one last thought before passing out: " _He kind of looks hot in that suit."_

###

When Marinette heard the frantic tapping on her trapdoor, her confused and sleepy brain thought it was Chat Noir.

Until she rolled over and nearly crashed right into the blonde haired boy that was curled up on the other side of her bed. " _Chat's right here_ ," Marinette thought. " _So who could that be_?" She crawled over Adrien, who mumbled something to her. Ignoring him, Marinette walked to her trap door and unlocked it, swinging it open.

She gasped as she saw Jade Turtle holding an unconscious and bleeding Papillon in his arms. "Alya!" she cried out. "Get her inside!"

"Mari," Adrien whimpered, discovering her absence. "Where are you?"

"Turn on the light and wake up Maman, Adrien!" Marinette instructed. The boy opened his eyes and immediately zipped over to turn the light on. Then he disappeared out her bedroom door. Jade carried Papillon to the bathroom, where he set her down on top of some towels that Marinette had lined the bathtub with. He released his transformation. Wayzz groaned in exhaustion and flew over to wait on the bathroom counter. Nino would get him food when Papillon was safe.

Sabine rushed into the bathroom, holding a suture kit. Adrien was right behind her, a panicked look on his face and his hair all messed up. "Is she okay?" he asked.

"I don't know! What happened out there Nino?" Marinette asked.

"She was shot!" Nino said. "When I showed up she was fighting some guy with a gun and then he shot her!"

"It's just a graze," Sabine said, mopping the blood away from the wound on Papillon's shoulder. Her broach beeped. "It's not very deep. Nooroo, you can come out." The butterfly kwami released the transformation and landed in Adrien's hands. Adrien picked up Wayzz and took them both down to the kitchen to get food.

"Do I need to stitch it?" Marinette asked. She hated stitching people up, mostly because it meant that they had gotten hurt in the first place. Sabine nodded and handed her daughter a needle. Marinette gritted her teeth and went to work. She jabbed and looped, trying to make sure the stitches were close enough together to prevent them from coming undone. The extra blood oozing out of the deep gash made her job difficult, but she finished in under fifteen minutes.

"Done," she sighed in relief when she finished. She stood and went to wash her hands, watching as the blood that stained them turned the water red. Sabine cleaned around the stitches and slathered a healthy amount of disinfectant cream on the wound. Then she bandaged it tightly. Alya's eyes fluttered open.

"Alya!" Nino gasped in relief. "Thank goodness you're okay!" Alya groaned.

"I don't feel okay," she said. "My shoulder is killing me! Hi Mrs. Dupain-Cheng..."

"Hello dear," Sabine greeted. "You gave us quite a scare! Does anything else hurt? You have a nasty gash in you arm from the bullet. Marinette stitched it up."

"My head hurts," Alya said through gritted teeth. "Everything is pretty blurry."

"You might have a concussion," Sabine said. She turned to Marinette. "Honey, she can stay the night in the guest bedroom. Adrien never sleeps in there anyway. Go grab me some Tylenol."

Marinette left the room. She desperately wanted to touch Alya and make sure she was real and alive. She had no problem putting herself in dangerous situations, but she couldn't bear to see her friends hurt. She felt like it was her fault that Alya was hurt. She should have checked up on Alya while she patrolled. She should always be checking on the new heroes when they patrolled. If she had been a little more responsible, this wouldn't have happened.

"Stop blaming yourself," Adrien said as she walked into the kitchen. He looked very anxious. "Is she okay?"

"She woke up. Her shoulder and her head hurt and she says that everything looks dizzy."

"Ouch. I've been there before. It's not fun," Adrien said, his eyes dropping to the table. He made a face. Marinette grimaced.

"That was my fault too," she said softly. Adrien frowned.

"I thought we agreed that nobody was to blame and we're going to forget it?"

"I'm sorry... I'm just so scared. It was such a quiet night tonight. I just went right to sleep. It didn't occur to me that Alya or Nino or even Nathan could get hurt."

"Nathan texted me. He got home safely," Adrien said, gesturing to his phone, which was lying on the table next to him. Nooroo flew past them and up the stairs, probably going to Alya.

"Good," Marinette said. She grabbed the Tylenol and headed upstairs.

###

General Kuiso was sitting in his stiff-backed leather chair, absentmindedly sipping his coffee. The General was not a nostalgic man. He normally did not allow himself to dwell on the past, and he took pride in it. But he let old memories overcome his pride tonight. He stared at the wall, dwelling on his past mistakes.

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door. General Kuiso straightened in his seat. "Come in," he ordered. A small man scurried into the room with a file in his hand. He nervously stopped a few feet away from Kuiso, who raised an eyebrow.

"The security department sent me, sir," the man said, bowing his head slightly. "They found a profile and picture of the person who was doing detailed searches on us."

"They did, did they?" the General mused, stroking his chin. "Well, let's see it! Now! While I'm young!" The small man nearly tripped over his own feet as he rushed around the desk and handed the envelope to General Kuiso.

"Get out!" the General ordered. The messenger bowed and then turned and fled, shutting the door behind him. General Kuiso sighed as he opened the file. They had better have found some decent information or he was going to be angry, and when he was angry heads rolled. He pulled a photograph out of the file's pocket. He gasped and dropped it.

Kuiso tossed the rest of the file on his desk and dived after the photograph. His fingers scrabbled for it in the room's dim lighting. Finally, he recovered it. Hands trembling, he walked over to the light and stared at the young woman in the photograph. She was not overly young, maybe mid-thirties. However, she was a lot older than when he had last seen her. There was no doubt in his mind that it was the same person. She had the same honey-blonde hair. The same slim face. The same piercing green eyes.

"Emily Agreste..." he muttered, eyes narrowed. He crossed the room and sat back down in his chair, propping her picture up. He stared at it while running two fingers along the scar that ran down his face. It was impossible. Emily Agreste had died years ago. Around fifteen, if he remembered correctly.

He felt his blood boil. What if she hadn't died? What if The Boss found out? He had already lost enough of himself and his humanity the last time that he had messed up. And it was all Emily Agreste's fault. The only reason that General Kuiso was still alive was the fact that Emily had 'died'. His fists were clenched, and his knuckled were white. What if she was still alive? What if she was hunting down the company?

Suddenly, his telephone rang. Kuiso nearly jumped out of his seat as he dropped the photograph yet again. He hurriedly calmed his nerves and picked up the telephone. "Hello?"

"Kuiso." The voice on the other end of the phone was gravelly and coarse. It sent chills up General Kuiso's spine.

"Yes sir?" he responded with as much control as he could muster. To his relief, he sounded normal.

"Have you received any information from security about those searches? They concern me greatly. Someone with that much knowledge of this company must be exterminated immediately." The General placed a hand over his racing heart. He pulled the phone away from his mouth and took a deep breath before responding.

"I haven't heard anything from them as of yet, sir. I will inform you the moment I hear anything."

"Good," the man on the other end of the line replied. "See to it that I am informed the exact moment you hear something. Do not let me down again, Kuiso." The General gulped.

"Yes sir," he said. The Boss hung up the phone. General Kuiso took in a deep shuddering breath before setting down the telephone. He re-opened the file on Emily Agreste and scanned through it.

She was apparently living under the alias 'Evelyne Etserga'. He had no idea where the name Evelyne came from, but he almost wanted to laugh at her last name. It was very clever indeed. 'Etserga' was 'Agreste' backwards. He continued searching the file, looking for what he needed. Finally, he found it. The address to where she was living.

General Kuiso reached down and opened the bottom drawer of his desk. He pulled out a gleaming revolver. The General loaded the gun and put several more rounds of ammo in his pocket. Then he slid the gun in its holster. He walked out of his office and went over to his secretary's desk.

"If anyone needs me, tell them to leave a message or come back later," he instructed. "I'm going out. I have something pressing that came up, and I really must take care of it right away." General Kuiso strode away, one hand fingering his gun. Emily Agreste would not live to see the light of another day.


	6. Guess Who's Back? Back Again?

Hello everyone! LilyTheNinjaGirl here!

Half of you have probably forgotten who I am, what this story is, and why you have an email in your inbox alerting you of its update XD But that's okay! Its my fault for not posting for months...

Anyway, in about a week I will be finished with my freshman year in high school! This year has been very different for me and presented a whole host of new problems and challenges in school, friendships, and other areas. The good news is, I survived! And I don't have Writer's Block anymore! I plan on proof-reading Secrets and Betrayals (because I just re-read it and man do I have some bad spelling mistakes and other glitches) and I will be finishing Escapades of Friendship!

I do realize that Season 2 of Miraculous Ladybug (at least, the spoilers we've received from it) directly contradict some of my choices on Miraculous holders, but whatever. I like my story the way it is and I'm not changing it!

If anyone has any ideas for Escapades of Friendship (if anyone can even remember the plot, that is) I would love to hear them! Leave them in a review or PM me, whichever you prefer! I jus posted a poll on my profile, so please check that out!

Anyway, Sayuri has awoken from her stupid Writers Block nap and is raring to go and so am I! Be on the lookout for updates!

I hope you have a great day!

-Lily


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